1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display module.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display module is a display device on which a predetermined image is displayed using light emitted from fluorescent materials excited by ultraviolet rays generated by a gas discharge. It is expected to be a next generation display device since a thin and wide displaying surface can be produced.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional plasma display module. The plasma display module includes a PDP (plasma display panel) 1 that includes a front panel 10 and a rear panel 20, a chassis base 40 that supports the PDP 1, and a plurality of circuit substrates 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66 that drive the PDP 1 and are disposed on a rear side of the chassis base 40. The circuit substrates 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66 are connected to one another through a connection cable 55 and to the PDP 1 through connection cables 51, 52, 53, and 54.
The circuit substrate 61 disposed on an upper central part of the chassis base 40 functions to transform a power supplied from the outside to a required form, the circuit substrate 62 disposed on a lower central part of the chassis base 40 functions to transform image signals received from the outside to meet the driving method of the PDP 1, the circuit substrate 63 disposed on a left side of the chassis base 40 functions to apply a discharge pulse to a Y electrode 13 which will be described later, the circuit substrate 64 disposed on a right side of the chassis base 40 functions to apply a discharge pulse to an X electrode 12 which will also be described later, and the circuit substrates 65 and 66 disposed on uppermost and lowermost sections of the chassis base 40 function to apply a discharge pulse to address electrodes 22 which will be described later.
The PDP 1 depicted in FIG. 1 is a dual address driving PDP in which the address electrodes are divided on uppermost and lowermost sections of the chassis base 40. Therefore, two circuit substrates for applying an address signal to the address electrodes 22 are required. However, in a PDP in which the address electrodes are not divided, one of the above circuit substrates 65 and 66 is required.
A vent hole P is used for removing impure gases and filling a discharge gas after sealing the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20 in a manufacturing process of the PDP 1, and when the removal of the impure gasses and the filling of the discharge gas is completed, an end of the vent hole is sealed.
The PDP 1 includes a display region AD on which images are displayed and disposed on an overlapping region of the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20 and a sealing region AS on which a sealing member, such as frit for bonding the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20, is coated surrounding the display region AD.
The front panel 10 includes a first connection unit AC1 disposed on a left side of the sealing region AS and connected to the connection cable 53 and a second connection unit AC2 to which the connection cable 54 is attached and disposed on a right side of the sealing region AS. The rear panel 20 includes a third connection unit AC3 to which the connection cable 51 is attached and disposed an upper edge of the sealing region AS and a fourth connection unit AC4 to which the connection cable 52 is attached and disposed on a lower edge of the sealing region AS.
FIG. 2 is a cutaway exploded perspective view of a conventional plasma display module in which a structure of the display region AD is shown. The PDP 1 depicted in FIG. 2 is similar to the PDP disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1998-172442 for Plasma Display and Manufacture Thereof by Iguchi et al.
The PDP 1 includes a rear substrate 21, a plurality of address electrodes 22 disposed parallel to each other on the entire surface of the rear substrate 21, a rear dielectric layer 23 that covers the address electrodes 22, a plurality of barrier ribs 24 formed on the rear dielectric layer 23, a fluorescent layer 25 formed on side surfaces of the barrier ribs 24 and on the entire surface of the rear dielectric layer 23, a front substrate 11 disposed parallel to the rear substrate 21, a plurality of sustain discharge electrode pairs 14 disposed on a rear surface of the front substrate 11, a front dielectric layer 15 that covers the sustain discharge electrode pairs 14, and an MgO film 16 that covers the front dielectric layer 15.
The sustain discharge electrode pairs 14 includes an X electrode 12 and a Y electrode 13. The X and Y electrodes 12 and 13 respectively includes transparent electrodes 12b and 13b and bus electrodes 12a and 13a. In the above PDP 1, one sub-pixel is defined by one sustain discharge electrode pair 14 and two adjacent barrier ribs 24.
In the above PDP 1, a sub-pixel that will emit light is selected by an address discharge between the address electrode 22 and the Y electrode 13, the selected sub-pixel generates light by a sustain discharge occurred between the X and Y electrodes 12 and 13 of the sub-pixel selected. More specifically, a discharge gas filled in the sub-pixel generates ultraviolet rays by the sustain discharge, and the ultra violet rays excite the fluorescent layer 25 to generate visible light. An image is displayed on the PDP 1 by the light emitted from the fluorescent layer 25.
There are various conditions for increasing the light emitting efficiency of the PDP 110. One of the conditions is that elements that hinder the emission of visible light emitted from the fluorescent layer 25 must be minimized.
However, in the above structure of PDP 1, the visible light that passes through the front substrate 11 is approximately 60% of the light emitted from the fluorescent layers 25 since a portion of the visible light emitted from the fluorescent layer 25 is absorbed or reflected by the MgO film 16, the front dielectric layer 15, the transparent electrodes 12b and 13b, and the bus electrodes 12a and 13a. 
Also, the generation of an address discharge requires time and the address voltage is high since the distance (150 μm (microns) in a conventional product) between the address electrode 22 and the Y electrode 13 is distant.
To manufacture the conventional PDP 1, the front panel 10 can be manufactured such that sustain discharge electrode pairs 14 are formed on the front substrate 11 and the sustain discharge electrode pairs 14 are covered by the front dielectric layer 15 and the MgO film 16, and the rear panel 20 can be manufactured such that address electrodes 22 are formed on the rear substrate 21, the address electrodes 22 are covered by the rear dielectric layer 23, and the barrier ribs 24 and the fluorescent layer 25 are formed on the rear dielectric layer 23. Afterward, the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20 are air tightly sealed. The manufacturing of the PDP 1 is completed by exhausting impure gases from a space formed between the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20 and filling a discharge gas in the space.
To manufacture the conventional PDP 1, a line of equipment for manufacturing the front panel 10, another line of equipment for manufacturing the rear panel 20, and still another line for exhausting impure gasses and filling a discharge gas are separately required.
Various equipments can lead to product failures while transferring from one process to another or while aligning the front panel 10 and the rear panel 20, and process time is long and a large area, thereby increasing the manufacturing costs.